MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — The Lost Trident Sessions (review)

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — The Lost Trident Sessions album cover Album · 1999 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
The Lost Trident Sessions is a real treat for fusion fans - the long-lost third album from the band's legendary original lineup, officially released after sitting in the vaults for 25 years. This time around John McLaughlin doesn't dominate the songwriting to the same extent as he did on the first two albums, with each of the other members except Billy Cobham contributing a composition of their own. (Billy, of course, had recorded his solo album Spectrum mere weeks previously, and so had already found an outlet for most of his compositions there.) The album leans closer to rock than the first two classic Mahavishnu albums, and has a tranquil, spacey atmosphere which lacks much in the way of the furiously fast playing of those discs. It's a mild departure for the Orchestra, but an intriguing one, and although the album was never finished it's clear that just a little more polish would have yielded a third essential fusion classic. But the skilled playing masks the discontent and personality clashes in the band that had already begun coming out by this point - to the extent that apparently some of the participants weren't even talking to each other - and the lineup would disintegrate before the album was completed, leaving McLaughlin to construct an entirely new lineup and release the live album Between Nothingness and Eternity - which consists of extended versions of the first three tracks from these sessions - instead of this one.

On balance, I wouldn't say this album is quite as essential to fusion listeners as the first two. It certainly wasn't as influential - how could it have been when it wasn't released? - and the new material, whilst good, still needs polish to come up to the standards of The Inner Mounting Flame or Birds of Fire. Still, anyone who's listened to those albums should regard this disc as the vital next step in any exploration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's output.

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

So Much to Say RnB
PAUL BROWN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Voyage Post-Fusion Contemporary
JAN GUNNAR HOFF
Buy this album from MMA partners
Threads of Time Post Bop
ALAN BROADBENT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Continuing the Conversation Avant-Garde Jazz
DANIEL CARTER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Trio Voltaïcity (Ayumi Ishito, Yuko Togami, Stan Zenkov) : Live at PS1 Jazz Related Improv/Composition
AYUMI ISHITO
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Yene Felagote
UKANDANZ
snobb· 17 hours ago
"Ainda Preciso do Sol" Official Music Video - Adrian Younge
ADRIAN YOUNGE
js· 1 day ago
Slawek Jaskulke - The Royal Symphonic Jazz Suite
SŁAWEK JASKUŁKE
snobb· 1 day ago
PEDRITO MARTINEZ ?? ALEXANDER ABREU ?? YOMIL= ILUSIÓN ÓPTICA (Official Video)
PEDRITO MARTINEZ
js· 2 days ago
Christian McBride & Ursa Major - More Is (Official Audio)
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE
js· 2 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed